February 10, 2015 — The following was released by EarthJustice:
Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a coalition of fishing and watershed protection groups filed a complaint today in federal court seeking to reverse a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) not to list the blueback herring as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Blueback herring once spawned in huge numbers in rivers along the Atlantic coast and were a major prey species for an array of fish, mammals, and birds. But due to habitat destruction, fishing, and water pollution, blueback herring populations have been reduced to tiny fragments of their original sizes.
"The blueback herring is in desperate need of federal protection—a fishery that dates back at least 350 years has declined almost 99 percent over the last fifty," said Brad Sewell, a senior attorney at NRDC. "Rescuing and ultimately bringing back river herring will be a boon for our coastal ecosystems and fisheries."
The groups are asking that U.S District Court in D.C. find NMFS in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and that the court order the federal agency to prepare a new listing determination within six months.
"The fate of the Mid-Atlantic blueback herring population is part of a bigger picture," said Earthjustice Attorney Roger Fleming. "River herring and shad—keystone species in the Atlantic Ocean and coastal rivers food chain—are victims of industrial fishing operations, compounding decades of harm from habitat destruction and pollution. But the larger problem is the lack of protection from federal oversight agencies."